Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Your Baby Makes Me Cry

by Susan Sey

A baby was baptized this Sunday at church & I wept like a proud grandma.

I am, however, not this child's grandma. I am not her mom, her auntie, or even her cousin. Her mother is a Facebook friend. An acquaintance, really. I've only seen the kid once or twice--just enough to know that she got a double scoop of cute and that she's wicked fast on her tiny little feet.

But that's not why I cried.

I cried because I'm a sucker for ceremony.

I cried because I think it's gorgeous and touching and extravagantly optimistic to make a deep and private emotion into a public promise.

I cried because watching a community of people embrace a new member touches me.

Hearing that community pledge with one strong voice to guide, shelter and love a child all but wrecks me.

And the welcoming hymn? That powerful, unified voice raised in song?

Forget it. By then I'm a bawling mess. ("I Was There To Hear Your Borning Cry" puts me over the edge faster than "Child of Promise" but they both slay me.)

And it's not just baptisms. It's weddings, too. Funerals. I'm a non-denominational crier. I cry at graduations. Dance recitals. Band concerts. Anything where a community welcomes, celebrates, recognizes or loses one of its members.

It's thrilling, isn't it? When people crack open that window into their truest hearts? When they try their hardest, perform their hearts out, bring their beloved child into the larger community or simply muster up the courage to declare their love?

I think that's why I love romance novels. For me, the payoff is that moment of pure vulnerability that comes with saying "I love you" to somebody who might not say it back. It's bearing witness when somebody pledges their heart. It's foolish, bold and gorgeous, that kind of risk. And it brings tears to my eyes every single time.

So what about you? What is it about romance that trips your trigger? Do you like a good cry, or are you more a witty repartee kinda gal? Is it the sexual tension, or the alpha male with a tender streak? Why do you love this genre?

73 comments:

I enjoy romance simply for its escapism - love conquers all. I also enjoy learning about different places, different times, and even people!

And I enjoy romance because of the fun games among readers, including catching the Golden Rooster. USPS will ship birds overnight ... so please send him on his way across the Pacific for a tropical holiday. Feel free to send a few cabana boys, too.

I love a good cry and there is nothing like reading a romance noval that make me cry! Like Helen I read romance for the happy ever after and in my mind I think life and true love should run just like a romance noval! I also love books that make me laugh and the ones that keep you on the edge of your seat in suspense! Hmmmmm sounds like I just love me some books of all kinds.

Awe... I love/hate the romances that make me cry :) I'm not much of a crier so generally it's like a tear or two - and that counts for me.:XI can't go into detail or anything because I'm not packed for RT yet and I'm heading down in like 12 hours. (And you know, sleeping would be important too.) If anyone else is going please find me! :D

I suspect I received the Golden Rooster because Bandit-readers are getting ready/traveling to RT.

For those going to RT, I encourage you to stop by the SOS Table in Club RT - SOS is Kathryn Falk's Military Charity. She created SOS as a means for romance readers to support military families.

Although I am not able to attend, I sent patriotic items as table giveaways and Hawaiian treats for the raffle prizes. If you have any leftover promos or unwanted books, consider donating them to the SOS team. They will ship all donations to me to distribute to literary projects on the Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam (the cabana boys can help me unpack).

Okay, Susan...now that you've owned up to it, I'll confess that I found myself getting very vaklempt on Picnic Day when the UC Davis Aggie band marched by. I don't know why. I also get teary whenever they play the national anthem. Can't explain it.

Helen's post sums up my feelings on reading romance...I read romance for the HEA and all the fun intrigue and problems along the way. But in saying that I love a book that makes me cry and laugh as well.Congrats on the GR, Kim!

Congrats on nabbing the GR, Kim and many thanks for all you're doing for our military! It's so important that they, and their families, not be forgotten.

I cry over romance books, ceremonies of all types, parades, flyovers and, yes, even commercials. :) It doesn't take much. I even got teary-eyed when I picked up Cassy and Rachel from doggy camp last night. They had only been gone for three days, and I know they had a great time, but their sheer joy at seeing "mama" sent me over the edge. ;-)

In my romance books, I love it all: intrigue, sassy banter, deep emotion, humor and a happy ending. I finished reading an ARC of FoAnna's My Reckless Surrender last night and soaked more than a couple tissues in the process. She's done it again - another fabulous book!

Oh, Susan, I'm a big cry baby, too and you just brought a tear to my eye. What a lovely post.

Hmm, there's so much that I love about romance novels, but I think it's that underlying tension between the hero and heroine that's always present and electric throughout. I love the first meeting between the h/H and I love it when each finally shows his/her vulnerability to the other. Sigh.

And Joanie, we don't need to mention that time after the Awards Ceremony in San Fran, K?

Kim, congrats on sweeping the GR off to your lanai. You won't get a lick of work out of him! *g*

Susan, I am a big old bawler, too. Anything even remotely touching can do it. Okay, it's much worse when I'm hormonal, but it happens all month long. You know what gets me? Reading people's stories about how faith touched their lives in "Guideposts." I just sit down with the tissues when the new issue arrives each month.

My FAVORITE romances are the ones where I am verklempt when they are baring their souls. I love a good cry! I also love a good laugh. I think Kristan Higgins gets that mix just right, as does SEP and Jenny Crusie. I love to laugh and cry in the same book. That's my test of a great romance!

Pink, marching bands totally make me teary-eyed. I don't know why, but all that Sousa bombast really gets to me!

I'm a crier too, Susan. But, then I'm also a laugher. Heck - I'm just plain emotional! I like to think that I embrace what life has to offer and respond accordingly *g*.

I love romances and mysteries because they take you on a fun/thrilling/scary/exciting/sweet etc journey and have a happy ending, no matter how bad things get along the way. I like good to conquer evil and the bad guys to get their just desserts. I like to see good, hard-working people achieving their dreams, sad people finding happiness, hopeless people finding hope.

I like to be entertained, but I like to be entertained in a positive way because there is too much misery in the world, so I don't need it in my books (or films, for that matter). I also like balance in my entertainment - so I love romcoms as much as romantic suspense, historicals as much as contemps.

Aloha, Kim in Hawaii! You get the Golden Rooster! Take him surfing--I'm not sure he's ever been. :-) As for the cabana boy, is there one in particular you're interested in? I'll ship him off right away!

And I'm with you on loving what I learn from romance novels. I swear, every bit of historical knowledge I have comes from romance novels. :-)

Helen wrote: I read romance for the HEA and all the fun intrigue and problems along the way. But in saying that I love a book that makes me cry and laugh as well.

Yeah, it's so much fun to have all those ups & downs, isn't it? To care so deeply for characters, & yet be assured that no matter how bad it gets, there WILL be a HEA. It's reassuring and makes the journey fun.

Virginia wrote: Hmmmmm sounds like I just love me some books of all kinds.

Oh, Virginia, welcome to Book Junkies R Us. :-) You don't have to pick a single reason why you love romance novels around here, just a handful of your favorites.

For me, it's the huge emotions & the pay off of that staggeringly vulnerable scene where strong people bear their hearts & confess their love. It just slays me. That's why SEP is my go-to girl. She does that scene and that emotion SO WELL.

Kim in Hawaii wrote: For those going to RT, I encourage you to stop by the SOS Table in Club RT - SOS is Kathryn Falk's Military Charity. She created SOS as a means for romance readers to support military families.

I've never heard of this but it sounds lovely. Hope lots of families get the support they deserve through it!

Jane wrote: I don't cry at weddings, but I did cry when my cousin gave birth. If a romance features babies/children, I know I'll probably cry.

Oh, crud, babies being born? Hello, waterworks. I'm a mess. It's so beautiful and hopeful and profound, that first moment when a baby gets here. Sometimes I watch that baby show on the learning channel, & it's a cry fest. Sheesh. I'm on the treadmill, jogging & crying. It's probably not safe. :-)

Hi, Susan--I like romance because it's uplifting and satisfying and hopeful. I seldom cry in public, probably due to stiff upper lip training in childhood. (I had an aunt who passed out antihistamines at funerals to dry up everybody before we went into the church)

Plus, as a woman in what was still predominantly a man's world, I kept my emotions tightly locked down at work.

However, I will admit, since it was so public and some people here will remember it, that when I won the Maggie in '08--which came as something of a systemic shock--I wept the entire time I was in front of everyone, wept through my thank you speech, the pictures, etc., and could not seem to stop it.

I've never sat back and analyzed why, though maybe I wanted it more than I was willing to admit and, having been a bridesmaid there before, had no real expectation (hope, which kept me working toward publication and incidentally entering the Maggie as part of that, but not expectation) of ever being the bride. So to speak.

The pinstripes and briefcases set would've been appalled, but you know what--the earth didn't crack open, lightning didn't flash in the heavens, and the world went on as before. :-)

I enjoy romances in part for the escape from boring everyday (which part of the reason I prefer historicals) but also the ideas of true love, that there's someone special out there for everyone, and happy ever after exists. With so much bad in the news, abuse and bad relationships out there that you always hear about, it's nice to believe that love & happy ever after still exists.

Susan, lovely post. I have to admit, I'm not much of a crier. Probably because I had five brothers and then went into a male dominated career.

I read romance for everything, the drama, the mystery and intrigue, and the black moment when you think there is no way this couple can ever get together, but deep inside you know they will. And of course, the HEA. I must have that!

Pink Peony wrote: Okay, Susan...now that you've owned up to it, I'll confess that I found myself getting very vaklempt on Picnic Day when the UC Davis Aggie band marched by. I don't know why. I also get teary whenever they play the national anthem. Can't explain it.

Oh, the National Anthem kills me. Every time I think I can sing it, then I get to the part about "...our flag was still streaming..." and I'm done. and I see people sitting around, not even standing up or taking their dumb ball caps off? Oh, then I'm crying AND gnashing my teeth. Whatever happened to showing the flag some respect??

Okay, rant over. :-)

But you can bet that when they play the Star Spangled Banner, my kids stand UP.

PJ wrote: I even got teary-eyed when I picked up Cassy and Rachel from doggy camp last night. They had only been gone for three days, and I know they had a great time, but their sheer joy at seeing "mama" sent me over the edge. ;-)

Christine wrote: Hmm, there's so much that I love about romance novels, but I think it's that underlying tension between the hero and heroine that's always present and electric throughout. I love the first meeting between the h/H and I love it when each finally shows his/her vulnerability to the other. Sigh.

Oh, that's a wonderful moment, isn't it? When two guarded people finally risk it all & trust each other? And I can admit that I'm a sucker for snappy patter, too. The witty repartee. It's why I can't never quit Jenny Crusie no matter who she writes with.

Caren wrote: You know what gets me? Reading people's stories about how faith touched their lives in "Guideposts."

Oh, honey, you are NOT alone. I dig that one, too. (On a different note, I also enjoy Reader's Digest's Brush With Death stories. I know that's not what that feature is called but you all know the one I mean.) I love anything that provides a moment of clarity, a deeper understanding--of self, of spouse, of god or neighbor. I love growth. (At least watching other people do it--it hurts when I do, not as enjoyable.) Maybe that's why romance trips my trigger. Hmmm...

Anna wrote: I like good to conquer evil and the bad guys to get their just desserts. I like to see good, hard-working people achieving their dreams, sad people finding happiness, hopeless people finding hope.

Yes! Exactly! That's one of the best and most positive arguments for romance there is. It satisfies a really basic need to feel like good is more powerful than evil. Courage is more powerful than fear. Risk is rewarded, good people get to be happy in the end. HEAs all around! big, happy sigh.

Nancy also wrote: Plus, as a woman in what was still predominantly a man's world, I kept my emotions tightly locked down at work.

I think there's a lot of this out there, Nancy. Which is all the more reason why women might be drawn to romance novels as a safe place to exorcise all that emotion deemed inappropriate for the workplace.

But I love the idea of winning the Maggie in 08 cracking your stiff upper lip. :-) Wish I could've seen you bawling through the whole thing.

Nancy, as one of the people who was lucky enough to be in the audience the night you won the Maggie, let me assure you that you were *not* crying alone. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house that night!

Deb Marlowe wrote: I'm with you, Susan. I want big emotion in my romance. I love it. I also love watching the journey of two flawed people facing their demons and earning their HEAs. Romance Rules!

Amen, sister! I'll throw in a hankie wave, too, even though I'm way up north. :-) Because you hit it exactly---I want Big Fat Emotion in my romance. I want larger than life, I want huge drama and I want the total satisfaction of watching people earn that HEA the hard way. Any author who can pull that off gets my loyal readership for life.

gamistress66 wrote: With so much bad in the news, abuse and bad relationships out there that you always hear about, it's nice to believe that love & happy ever after still exists.

Plus there's lots of hot guys :) always a good thing ;)

Oh, yeah, there's the hot guys. Nothing to sneeze at. :-)

But yes, it's so nice to immerse yourself in a world where there's hope, positivity, happy endings and true love after the steady diet of doom and gloom we get in real life. I don't think of it as escape so much as an antidote. Like I need balance & a quick infusion of HEA keeps things even. :-)

Of the three, I'm probably most about the sexual tension because boy do I get TICKED OFF if an author takes away my sexual tension too soon and just starts them having sex early and often like on voting day. I don't mind sex; I love sex, but I love sexual tension more. I guess I prefer to be teased. :)

Susan - cute post. I tend to laugh at funerals - I think it's a stress release thing, or I attend funny funerals. I don't find funerals sad, but reaffirming. I'm glad this person lived and that I was fortunate enough to know them. But that's another blog -

I love romance because I love the pursuit. Reading about two people falling in love reminds me of my own roller coaster days of courtship. I love the emotion in a romance and if a story can bring me to tears, that's wonderful - rare - but wonderful. If a story can make me laugh out loud - far more common - that's wonderful too. Put them both together and I'm hooked for life.

I love romance because anyone and everyone can find true love within those pages. And the characters speak with a truth and openness that often doesn't exist in real life. I love the romances where one or both characters has been through the ringer and overcome that past to find true love.

You know the ceremony that always makes me tear up? When they play Amazing Grace on bagpipes at the funerals of fallen police officers and firemen.

Oh, Susan, I'm an awful crier. It's not pretty at all. So it's a good thing that I don't do it too horribly often.

That said, there are a few occasions which make me cry. The view of honest emotion out there in public will do it to me too. You don't get to see that a lot--or I don't. Most ceremony is just that to me--ceremony. I've cried at a couple of weddings, and I cry at funerals to see the pain of loss the family is feeling, even when it's not my family. But often it seems that ceremony is kind of a "get through it and get it over with" thing. It's a shame, but I see a lot of that. Maybe I'm not looking deeply enough.

And even wose than that? The one that gets me EVERY DANG TIME? (and this one is coming up)

It's when the horses take their walk around the track at Churchill Downs before the Run for the Roses--the Kentucky Derby. They play My Old Kentucky Home--and the sight of those horses and that music--I just lose it. Full tears, snot and all. I'm always at a wine tasting (though I won't be this year--I may not get to see the Derby at all) and we gather around the tv and all business stops while the horses run.

It is the one sporting event about which I get truly emotional. I can't say exactly why, but it is, indeed, partially the ceremony which does it.

Hi, Susan! I like my romance reading to have humor. HOWEVER, I can cry a lot during baptisms, weddings, cards I receive, commercials on t.v., Hallmark movies and, like Caren, stories of inspiration and faith. Shary and my husband are always saying, "Mom's crying---again!"

Okay now as to Romance novels. I like the ones that take me deep into the damaged souls of the characters. The ones that let me see into their deepest fears, and when those fears come to pass, I cry. Or I want to. If a novel can make me cry and then give me that amazing resolution, it's a keeper shelf book. Not many do that any more. I want that.

Beautiful post, Susan! Now I'M bawling too! I love ceremonies too, even if they're unfamiliar -- a bris or a bar mitzvah for example. I love the symbolism and yes, for a plain simple girl, even the pagentry and pomp of them.

Whenever I read lovers declaring their love in a romance novel, I remember Dr. Big's first declaration.

Ms. Hellion wrote: Of the three, I'm probably most about the sexual tension because boy do I get TICKED OFF if an author takes away my sexual tension too soon and just starts them having sex early and often like on voting day.

LOL, Ms. Hellion! I'm with you on that one. I always have to talk myself into writing sex scenes because I so much prefer the crackle of under the surface, unspoken tension. It's electrifying, & it's tough to keep a book crackling without it.

Donna wrote: I love the emotion in a romance and if a story can bring me to tears, that's wonderful - rare - but wonderful. If a story can make me laugh out loud - far more common - that's wonderful too. Put them both together and I'm hooked for life.

Yep. Me, too. That's why I'll always put SEP at the top of my list. She just has a way of making me laugh & then jerking the rug out with the emotional sucker punch. It's a one-two combination that's tough to beat, you know?

I *know*, right? Why can't I make my husband understand this? Sometimes it's not that the world is falling apart, it's that I need the release of a good cry. If boys allowed themselves that luxury, I think we'd fight fewer wars.

Cassondra wrote: And even wose than that? The one that gets me EVERY DANG TIME? (and this one is coming up)

It's when the horses take their walk around the track at Churchill Downs before the Run for the Roses--the Kentucky Derby. They play My Old Kentucky Home--and the sight of those horses and that music--I just lose it.

Okay, I'm not from Kentucky, I have no particular affection for horses or horse racing (though I do like those big hats the ladies wear at derby time), but *I'm* getting misty just imagining this.

What is it about a parade (or beautiful creatures doing what they were born to do--horses running, etc) that gets us this way? Do you think maybe it's just that? A creature serving its purpose with grace and heart? Horses running? Musicians playing? Actors acting? Novelists evoking emotion?

Deb wrote: I like my romance reading to have humor. HOWEVER, I can cry a lot

These things seem to go hand in hand, don't they? We want our authors to play the emotional violin from both ends. :-)

I'll laugh a lot easier than I'll cry but yeah, I want my romances to deliver both. A laugh without some deeper emotion to balance it out just feels...snacky. Unsatisfying. Like eating chips for dinner--fun but not fulfilling, you know?

Jo wrote: I love ceremonies too, even if they're unfamiliar -- a bris or a bar mitzvah for example. I love the symbolism and yes, for a plain simple girl, even the pagentry and pomp of them.

Oh, yeah, I don't have to understand the ceremony at all. Sometimes everything I need to know is conveyed through context and body language. Pageantry sort of transcends language, I think.

Jo also wrote: Me: "Come back when you know, little man."

LOL, Jo! That's some presence of mind! When my husband asked me to marry him I was so taken aback I didn't believe him. He had to show me the ring before I stopped scoffing. Then I asked for a do-over. :-)

Susan, I'm a crier, too. If we ever sit next to each other at an event or ceremony, we can bawl all over each other *g* Actually, I was all misty-eyed at church Sunday all because the choir sang "You Raise Me Up". *sniff* I'm getting all misty right now just thinking about it :-)

I love everything about romances - the happily-ever-after, how love conquers all (or if not ALL then at least some really bad stuff *g*) the escapism. I'm just a sucker for a great story!

I'm a crier. I cry at church-I cry at commercials. I wept the last ten minutes of Return of the King, until my poor husband finally said "Does it help to remind you that it's not real?" Um, nope, it doesn't!

Graduation ceremonies are powerful. I'll be going through two in a row very soon (2012 and 2013). I'm sure I'm not the only Mom who'll be in tears--but I wish I could cry and look pretty, like they do in the movies.

I went directly to tears when the GH call came. I wish I could be a happy, elated reactor, but nope. Straight to the waterworks.

Wow...nice to know I'm not the only one who cries when they play the national anthem. :) And what is it about marching bands that evoke such emotion? I received an email today from a staff sergeant in Iraq. He's on his fourth tour now and told me he was hesitant to send me any pics on this tour cause the last time he did, it made me cry. Men can be so lunk-head clueless! It was an AP photo fo him...Sgt. X, 3rd Infantry, in full battle rattle, dirty and unshaven, sitting in a bombed out building and writing his wedding vows on the back of a MRE box. Of course, I bawled when I saw it. He got married during his R&R and sent me pics from the reception...at Hooters...that put a smile on my face for a moment and then I cried because it was the first time I'd seen a pic of him with a clean face.

Beth wrote: Susan, I'm a crier, too. If we ever sit next to each other at an event or ceremony, we can bawl all over each other *g*

It's a date, Beth! I have a feeling we'll be sharing the kleenex, though. :-) This seems to be a weepy sort of crowd. Just the way I like it. Lord help us if a marching band goes by playing the Star Spangled Banner, though.

Gillian Layne wrote: I wept the last ten minutes of Return of the King, until my poor husband finally said "Does it help to remind you that it's not real?" Um, nope, it doesn't!

Oh, tell me about it! I was just pregnant with kid #2 (so not in a really stable place, hormonally speaking) when we went to see the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. Okay, it opens with the mother putting her four children, ages maybe twelve to six, on a train WITHOUT HER because London was being bombed & they weren't safe.

Okay the mom was sending her precious children AWAY. Without HER. On a TRAIN. With STRANGERS.

I couldn't help it. It hit me in such a raw, feral place. A mother should be able to take care of her babies. Period. I will not apologize for going to pieces when a natural law like that gets violated.

I'm sure the people next to us would have appreciated an apology, though. :-)

But I'm totally with you on that awwwww feeling a good romance gives you. When you snap the book shut with a happy sigh & the characters linger in your head and your dreams for a few days? I love that.

Gillian, had to laugh. I think in a way, it IS real!!!! I know my characters are real - they just operate in an alternative universe. And then there's all the other wonderful alternative universes - you know, Heyer world and Liz Carlyle world and Barbara Samuel world and... Yeah, I know, could go on and on!

Susan, you get me every time. As to the question, can I answer "D, All of the Above"? I read romance for all those reasons, sometimes in the same book. (Which is why I'm itching to read Money Honey!)

I'm pretty much a non-denomination crier as well. Marching bands and Hallmark cards can do it to me too. Flower commercials. Anything about a member of the armed services. That book, about the Marine who rescued the dog in Afghanistan? Ohhhhh, no. I'd be in tears every single night. Loved the idea of it, couldn't buy it to read to the kidlets.

Of course, becoming a parent makes you more prone to weeping over the kid things, I think. I was all misty-eyed the other night when the oldest of my sons was in a choral concert, and unlike some of his pals, he was singing his heart out. Then I REALLY got weepy thinking about all the concerts my poor parents must have sat through, and wouldn't my Dad be proud of his grandson.

Now, that's done it again. Off to get a new box of tissue for my office...just used the last one.

I cry when I hear the Star Spangled Banner every time, UNLESS I'm singing it. Have to maintain my composure then, but it isn't easy.

And play Amazing Grace on the bagpipes and I am a GONER!!

Everyone knows I am nuts about Christian's declaration of love in Flowers from the Storm when he bursts into the Friends meeting during Maddy's public renunciation of their marriage. There is something about that big, strong, powerful aristocrat, struggling with the after effects of his stroke and knowing he is humiliating himself and he just doesn't care. He has to say what is in his heart. And then he says "I'll wait outside. Fifteen minutes. No longer." And two hours later he is still standing across the street waiting for her to come out. He thinks she has decided not to return to him, but he has to see her one more time. Makes me cry every time!

And then when he explains why he is keeping his illegitimate infant daughter in spite of the fact that the mother's family has claimed her and will continue to do so as long as he pays. He says "I just think ... she'll be cold and they won't care." I mean, good Lord what a man!

Jeanne wrote: That book, about the Marine who rescued the dog in Afghanistan? Ohhhhh, no. I'd be in tears every single night. Loved the idea of it, couldn't buy it to read to the kidlets.

Oh, I had to ban a few books from the bedtime roster. "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch? Ooooooh. I always think I'm going to make it, and then I get to the end and I break right up. The kids are like, "There goes Mommy." And my 6 yo takes over. She breezes right through it, no problem.

She'll have kids one day. She'll get it. Right now, though? It's just funny to them that Mommy can't make it through that one book. :-)

Gannon wrote: Beth, we played that at my mom's memorial service two weeks ago. It always made me tear up before, but even more so now.

Geez, I'll bet. I hope one day it'll be a sweet reminder rather than a painful one. Songs are good that way, I find. They really mellow over the years, and the emotions associated sort of...I don't know...sweeten up? I hope it works out that way for you.

Louisa wrote: There is something about that big, strong, powerful aristocrat, struggling with the after effects of his stroke and knowing he is humiliating himself and he just doesn't care. He has to say what is in his heart. And then he says "I'll wait outside. Fifteen minutes. No longer." And two hours later he is still standing across the street waiting for her to come out.

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Donna MacMeans, Trish Milburn, and Nancy Northcott will all be in Atlanta for the Moonlight and Magnolias conference in Decatur, Georgia September 30 through October 2nd. If you're in the area, stop by for the booksigning. We'd love to see you.

Redeeming the Rogue by Donna MacMeans received a 4.5 star TOP PICK! review from Romantic Times Magazine.

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